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Mario Kart: X Circuit
Mario Kart: X Circuit is a racing game developed primarily by Nintendo EPD, with Sandwich Team assisting, for the Nintendo Switch. It is the tenth installment in the main Mario Kart series and, including the arcade games, the fourteenth overall. This installment is the follow-up game to the Nintendo Switch title Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Like other Nintendo Switch games, this game can be purchased both physically at retail and digitally through the Nintendo eShop. The game was released in September 20XX worldwide. Elements from Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, and Mario Kart 8 are reused, such as 12-racer fields, Bikes and 2-Player online from Mario Kart Wii, gliding, underwater driving, kart customizing from Mario Kart 7, and anti-gravity from Mario Kart 8. The Battle Mode from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe also returns, as does the Mission Mode from Mario Kart DS. Gameplay The gameplay maintains the traditional elements of previous Mario Kart games, mostly from the two recent installments on the Wii U and Nintendo Switch respectively. Players pick a character of five weight classes and drive vehicles of varying stats, strengths, and weaknesses around an obstacle course-like racetrack, in an attempt to finish first of the twelve racers, the number of racers used in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8. During the race, racers can pick up items from Item Boxes, where the probability of receiving items is dependent on the racers' distance from the frontrunner; for example, first place typically receives defense items such as Bananas and Green Shells, while racers at intermediate distance from the lead receive more powerful offense items such as Triple Red Shells and Fire Flowers and racers far from the lead receive items that lead to an increase in speed or the possibility of going off-road without losing speed, such as the Super Star or Bullet Bill, to help compensate their distance. Players receive an amount of points depending on the position they end up with. Whichever player has the most amount of points wins the entire race. Karts, which feature similar designs from Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, can be customized once again, alongside bikes and ATVs. The hang-glider and underwater mechanics also return from Mario Kart 7, as well as Coins, with the player being able to collect up to ten in one race. Tricks and the ability to look behind also return in this game. Modes There are various game modes for Mario Kart: X Circuit. All modes available on single player (some also on local and online multiplayer) are listed here. Grand Prix Mario Kart: X Circuit's Grand Prix works similar to past installments. Like past games the 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc engine classes are available by default. Completing 150cc unlocks Mirror, and completing Mirror unlocks 200cc. However, Grand Prix rankings carry over to the lower engine classes after being completed on a higher engine class. In addition, and for the first time in the series, the Reverse, Special, and X modes have been added. Additionally, the Fog, Mega, and Mini modes are available as DLC. Players choose a cup, which takes them through four consecutive races of set order in that cup. Only the Mushroom, Shell, Egg, and Acorn Cups (and the DLC cups) are available at the start of the game, with the others being unlocked after completing the cup before, and are available in every engine class after being unlocked. Engine Classes Time Trials Time Trial mode lets the player complete a selected course in the fastest time possible. Players can choose between 150cc or 200cc Time Trials, both of which contain their own sets of staff ghosts. Leaderboards, as seen in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8, return in this game. VS Race VS mode can be played locally with up to four players. Players can set rules like which items appear, the difficulty level of the CPUs, how many races, and more. Players can also set how the courses appear, choose a course after one is finished, or play all tracks randomly or in order. In this game, Mirror Mode and Reverse Mode appears as default engine classes, even if they aren't unlocked in Grand Prix. The point system is the same as the Grand Prix. Race Types Normal - A normal race. Drivers race around a course with a set number of laps. Elimination - An elimination race. At the end of each lap, the last driver to cross the finish line is eliminated. The last driver standing wins. Balloon - A normal race with balloons. Each driver is given 5 balloons at the start of the race. When a driver loses all 5 balloons, that driver is eliminated. Laps can be toggled on or off. Time - A timed race. The time limit can be set from 1 to 30 minutes. When time runs out, the driver in 1st wins. Options Engine Class - Determines which engine class is used. Can be set to 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, 200cc, Mirror, Reverse, Special, X, and the downloadable Fog, Mega, and Mini modes. Item Settings - Determines how items are distributed. Items can be set to: *Normal: The normal item selection seen in Grand Prix races. *Basic: Items are limited to weaker objects like Green Shells, Bananas, and Mushrooms. *Skilled: Items that require more skill to use effectively have a higher chance of appearing. *Frantic: Increases the probability of receiving more powerful items. *Bananas Only: Only bananas will appear from items boxes. *Shells Only: Only shells will appear from items boxes. *Explosive: Only explosive items will appear from items boxes. *Speedy: Only speed-boosting items will appear from items boxes. *None: No item boxes will appear on the course. *Chaotic (Unlockable): Any item can appear in any position. Coins - Determines whether coins appear or not. Can be toggled on or off. AI Difficulty - Determines how smart the AI drivers are. Can be set to Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, and Super Hard. Race(s) - Determines how many races will be played. Can either be set from 1 to 100 races, or be set to infinite races. Teams - Determines whether drivers race in teams or not. If on, the number of teams can be set from 1 to 4. Course Selection - Determines how courses are selected. Can be set to: *Choose - Courses can be chosen after one is finished. *Random - Courses are played in a random order. *In Order - Courses are played in order, starting at the 1st course of the Mushroom Cup. *Winner Picks - The winner (or highest placing human player) of the last race chooses the next course. *Loser Picks - The loser (or lowest placing human player) of the last race chooses the next course. Battle In Battle Mode, the player can select one of the seven types of battles available in Mario Kart: X Circuit and one of the sixteen battle courses that appear in this mode. There are eight new courses, and the remaining eight are from previous installments in the series. Modes Balloon Battle: The classic mode where players use items to pop opponents' balloons or steal them in order to score points. This mode uses the point-based set-up seen in Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe rather than the last man standing set-up of Super Mario Kart through Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart 8. Coin Runners: Players must collect Coins scattered across the course in order to have the most by the end of the match. Plays more akin to the Mario Kart Wii version of the mode, with players having no limit to the amount of coins they can collect, as opposed to the 10-coin limit in the Mario Kart 7 version. Shine Thief: One player must retrieve a Shine Sprite and keep hold of it for about 20 seconds, while the opponents use items against whoever has the Shine to force that player to drop it. The driver holding the shine sprite has a slightly reduced top speed. Bob-omb Blast: Players must attack one another using Bob-ombs to score points. Each player can carry up to 10 Bob-ombs at a time. Unlike Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, players do not carry balloons. Instead, players can take an unlimited number of hits. Renegade Roundup: Racers are split into two teams. One team, known as "The Authorities", has to use Potted Piranha Plants (which are permanently attached to the front of their vehicle and only serve to capture the opposing team; they do not operate like the regular item) in order to attack and capture players from the other team, known as "The Renegades". Captured Renegades are placed into one of several jail cells floating above various points on the stage. Remaining Renegades can free their teammates by driving over a key switch placed below the jail cells. The Renegades win if at least one member is still running free when time runs out, and the Authorities win if all of the Renegades get captured. All Authority team members also temporarily lose their ability to capture after being hit by an item and Renegades receive a speed boost when they are freed from the cells. Moon Melee: Nine Power Moons are scattered onto the course at the beginning. Players need to capture the Power Moons, and to avoid being hit, as it causes a player to lose one moon. The moon then moves to a random spot for someone else to grab. In the meantime, a clock ticks down to zero. Anyone with or tied with the lowest Moon total when the clock hits zero is eliminated. The clock resets itself to a lower time and the battle continues until at least one is left. The less moons a player has, the better an item is obtained. This mode is a renamed version of the "Shine Runners" mode from Mario Kart DS. Hot Kab-omb: A new mode in the vein of "hot potato". One player is given a Kab-omb at the start of the match. This player needs to pass on the Kab-omb to another player, who then has to pass that Kab-omb on, and so on. In the meantime, a clock ticks down to zero. The player holding the Kab-omb when the clock hits zero is blown up and eliminated. The last player standing wins. Courses Missions Mission mode, from Mario Kart DS, returns in Mario Kart: X Circuit. In this mode, the player must complete some tasks and earn a ranking similarly to that in Grand Prix mode. It involves twelve levels, each containing eight "missions" and a boss battle. Almost always, the ranks depend on how much time is left or taken. There are varying mission types: *Driving through gates - driving in between giant half wheels in the ground. Very often the player has to pass these gates in numerical order. *Collecting coins - Players must pick up all the coins set in the track. Players may lose these coins by some obstacle of such course. *Destroying item boxes - Players must run over Item Boxes. Usually the racer will obtain Mushrooms after taking a box. In some cases, Item Boxes will move, and the player will have to catch up with it. Other missions the player must take care not to pick up the Fake Item Boxes alongside real ones. *Using stars, Bob-ombs, or shells to destroy enemies. *Driving backwards - players must use the B Button button to move, and directions on the +Control Pad are reversed. It is sometimes combined with other mission types. *Performing miniturbos within a certain lap - as said. More miniturbos are often required to finish faster, meaning a higher ranking. *Racing a CPU player for one lap - item boxes contain mushrooms and stars that the CPU can't use - the key to win. CPU players will always perform a Rocket Start. *Hitting CPU opponents with certain items - item boxes contain items that the CPU can't use - the key to win. *Getting slipstreams from CPU opponents - as said. More slipstreams are often required to finish faster, meaning a higher ranking. *Performing tricks - as said. More tricks are often required to finish faster, meaning a higher ranking. *Boss Battle - Unlocked after completion of the first eight courses in a level. Using items is usually a must in boss battles. There are some one-time isolated missions that are self-explanatory. Each mission takes place on a course, often blocked off in some areas (sometimes even a battle course) and players are given a character in their own standard vehicle (CPU players are also in standard vehicles). Sometimes mushrooms are laid across the track to help the player complete the mission. When at least a * ranking is achieved on all missions and bosses in the first eleven levels, Level 12 is unlocked. Boss battles are unique, as they have their own battlefields and different strategies are used to beat them. When the boss battles of Level 11 and 12 are completed, the first version of the staff credits will roll. Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7 Level 8 Level 9 Level 10 Level 11 Level 12 Online As with Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8, one or two local players can play over the Internet against other remote players. Players can race and battle with up to eleven other players from around the world or in their region, and can join and race with friends from the Friends menu. Finally, players are able to join a worldwide room using custom rules. Players can also set up their own rooms for friends and can race with custom rules, such as engine class, whether items are on or off, vehicle types available, control method, whether to play with computer players or not. Players can also toggle whether they want to play on just the original 64 courses, the original courses and one of the sets of DLC courses, or every available course by pressing the + button after selecting Worldwide or Regional, as well as when setting up a room for friends. When playing online worldwide or regional, players once again earn VR points based upon their ranking at the end of a race or battle like in Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8. Like in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, a player's VR starts at 1000, though like Mario Kart Wii players have different VR rankings for races and battles. Between 1000 and over 4000 VR when playing Worldwide or Regional VS. Race, players race at 100cc, and starting at over 5000 VR, players race at 150cc. Players can also create their own tournaments, similar to the communities from Mario Kart 7. When creating a tournament, players can choose an icon and a name for their tournament as well as set the rules, including engine class, whether to play in teams or not, whether to have items or not, vehicle types, whether there are computer players or not, and available courses (the original 64 courses, every course including DLC courses, just the DLC courses, or the original courses and one of the DLC packs). Players can also set times in which the tournament is available (weekly, daily, or between a fixed period and at what day and time the tournament begins and ends), the number of races before scores are totaled, and whether the groups shuffle after every four matches or not. Finally, the availability can be set, including whether it is open or a code is required or it is open to anybody, whether it is open to anyone worldwide or just regional, and whether only players of certain ratings can play. When looking for a tournament, players can enter a code, search by type, or look at active tournaments. In addition, playing in a tournament that allows the DLC tracks to be selected requires purchasing the DLC before the player can enter. After entering a room, players can choose one of three predetermined tracks or "Random", which chooses one of any of the game's tracks at random if the player's option is ultimately chosen (this is to prevent people from selecting the same course repeatedly). When playing with friends, however, players can select from any of the tracks available depending on the settings. Once every player has selected a track, a roulette selects one of these options as the track to be raced on. Mario Kart Central Mario Kart Central is an Internet-based feature in which players can not only view and share highlights of their and others' race and battle highlights, but also view and download others' custom courses. In Mario Kart Central's "TV" menu, the game automatically saves the twelve most recent race and battle replays, and the player can favorite up to six at one time. Players can view and edit theirs and others' replays by changing the duration of the replay and the focus characters and actions and can slow down, speed up, and rewind the replay while watching. Players can also share their highlights on YouTube. Unlike Mario Kart 8's "Mario Kart TV" mode, however, the 60 second upload limit is not present. In Mario Kart Central's "Vault" menu, players can browse through a list of the most recent custom courses. Players can download, like, and comment on others' custom courses. Course Editor A new mode included in Mario Kart: X Circuit is the Course Editor. The Course Editor allows players to create their very own custom course, without all of the hassle and modding tools required for previous entries in the series. The Course Editor uses a simplified Doom Builder-esque engine for building courses with. Players draw lines to create sectors, which build the structure of the course. The player can pick from a variety of textures, flats & objects to put on their course. The Course Editor's engine also supports liquids, floating platforms, slopes, and moving platforms, alongside normal sectors. Players can upload their course to the internet, where it can be downloaded by others. Finally, players can create/download a maximum of 32 custom cups (128 courses in total) When a course is created, the player can also choose to create a custom cup. The player can choose which custom courses are contained in the cup, and can also choose from a variety of icons to represent that cup. Characters There are 145 total playable characters in Mario Kart: X Circuit, consisting of 13 default characters, 114 unlockable characters, and 18 characters obtainable by purchasing the DLC packages. All 145 characters are divided into five weight classes dependent on the weight of the character: feather, light, medium, cruiser, and heavy. Starting Drivers Feather Light Medium Cruiser Heavy Other Unlockable Drivers Feather Light Medium Cruiser Heavy Downloadable Drivers Included in the game's six downloadable content packs are three additional racers, making eighteen total. Feather Light Medium Cruiser Heavy Alternate color variants A feature returning from Mario Kart 8 is the ability to change a character's appearance with alternate color variants. When a certain character's icon is chosen, the player can choose which color they want to play as. Only certain characters have alternate color variants, however. Unlocking Criteria As with Mario Kart 8, characters (other than Mii) are unlocked at random by completing cups; however, another character cannot be unlocked by replaying a cup. Unlockable characters appear as CPUs during races when they are still locked. Mii is the only character not randomly unlocked and is instead always the tenth character unlocked, unless the player uses an amiibo to unlock a Mii costume, in which case it will be unlocked immediately. Miis will never appear as CPU players. The only color variant that is unlocked separately from their respective characters is Gold Mario. Gold Mario is unlocked by earning a 3-star ranking in all Special mode cups. Driver Statistics Like in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, drivers in a specific group have their own stats. These are the stats shown in the game's menu: *'Speed:' The top speed of the vehicle on land with normal gravity. *'Acceleration:' The rate of the vehicle it takes to reach its top speed from a standing position. *'Weight:' The weight of the vehicle. Vehicles with higher weight knock away vehicles with lower weight. *'Handling:' The turning ability of the vehicle on land with normal gravity. A higher stat means vehicles turn sharper. *'Traction (Grip in PAL version):' The grasp of the vehicle. Vehicles with higher traction slip less on certain terrain and can stay stable on the road better. Not to be confused with handling. Other stats, known as hidden stats, exist, but are not visible in-game. These are: *'Water Speed:' The top speed of the vehicle while driving underwater. *'Air Speed:' The top speed of the vehicle while gliding. *'Anti-Gravity Speed:' The top speed of the vehicle in anti-gravity mode. *'Water Handling:' The turning ability of the vehicle while driving underwater. *'Air Handling:' The turning ability of the vehicle while gliding. *'Anti-Gravity Handling:' The turning ability of the vehicle in anti-gravity mode. *'Mini-Turbo:' The length of the vehicle's mini-turbo speed boosts. The stats are shown out of 6, and the values obtainable with the various combinations range from 1.0 to 5.75. Just like in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8, Miis can be Light, Medium, or Heavy, depending on their height and weight. Vehicle Parts A new feature present in Mario Kart: X Circuit is the ability to use tank treads alongside regular tires. Tank treads offer more weight, acceleration, and traction, but less speed and handling. There are 49 karts, 39 bikes, 22 ATVs (110 bodies in total), 38 sets of tires/treads, and 37 gliders available to use in Mario Kart: X Circuit. The parts are listed as they appear in-game, and the values indicate the differences between the given parts and the standard parts. It is impossible for a combination to have any stat less than 1 or greater than 5.75. Some parts can change colors either for every character, a specific group of characters, or based on a limited number of color schemes. The color schemes used by each Mii color serve as a default set of color schemes for each of the 12 colors which are also used by alternate costumes as well as the Mii Racing Suits. All of them use the default color scheme for parts which have unique color schemes for only certain characters. The other characters may have personalized color schemes for their Standard bodies, Pipe Frame and Super Glider, and for the other parts, they may use other color schemes other than those of their expected color. Kart Bodies Bike Bodies ATV Bodies Tires and Treads Gliders Unlocking Criteria Vehicle parts are unlocked by collecting coins from Grand Prix, VS Mode, Time Trials, and online races. Coins collected by additional players are counted. Coins will count towards the player's coin total only for completed races -- if the player collects coins then quits during a race, the coins from that race won't be added to their coin total. There are 117 unlockable parts, excluding golden parts. Players can unlock new parts for every 30 coins, but once reaching 1050 coins this changes to every 50, and once reaching 3500 coins this changes to every 100. Like in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, players can see how many coins they've collected by viewing the statistics screen from the main menu. Special Parts Special gold parts are unlocked with the following criteria: *Gold Kart: Obtain a minimum of one star ranking in all non-DLC Grand Prix cups of every engine class. *Gold Bike: Obtain a minimum of one star ranking on all non-DLC missions. *Gold ATV: Defeat all staff ghosts in both 150cc and 200cc Time Trials. *Gold Tires: Play over 1,000 races. *Gold Treads: Play over 1,000 battles. *Gold Glider: Collect over 10,000 Coins. Courses The cup system has been reworked significantly in this installment of Mario Kart. Instead of 4 nitro and 4 retro cups, there are now "circuits", containing 4 cups each. Mario Kart: X Circuit has 4 normal circuits: Mushroom, Flower, Star, and Retro. There are 104 tracks Mario Kart: X Circuit; 76 new and 28 retro. As with the retro tracks from the 3DS and Wii U installments, those in this game feature altered sections that incorporate the game's hang-glider, underwater, and anti-gravity features. The game features live-recorded music for all of the new tracks and most of the retro tracks. A 5th "X Circuit" is present, and is much different from the other 4 circuits. This circuit has 1 cup: The X Cup. The X Cup has the player racing on 4 randomly-generated "Course Editor" courses. This cup cannot be selected in VS. mode or Online mode. A 6th "Edit Circuit" is also present, which contains 1 cup at the start of a new game: The Example Cup. The Example Cup contains 4 example "Course Editor" courses, which can be replaced with custom courses the user has either created or downloaded. This cup cannot be selected in Online mode. A 7th circuit, the Special Circuit, is only available once at least 1 DLC pack has been purchased. This circuit, once unlocked, will contain all DLC cups. Circuits Mushroom Circuit Flower Circuit Star Circuit Retro Circuit X Circuit Edit Circuit Special Circuit Items As in all Mario Kart games, Mario Kart: X Circuit keeps the use of items during the races. Seventeen new items have been added to the list. The ability to carry two items at once returns from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Items found on the track New Items Returning Items Gallery X meme.png|Early English logo X meme alt.png|Final English logo Category:Mario Kart Games Category:Mario Games Category:Racing Games Category:Nintendo Switch Games